LForce: Recruiting
by BatmanLoonaticsFan96
Summary: Two months after L-Force gets fired, they come back with 6 new members. But the Dark Side has a few tricks up its sleeve... Sequel to "Solo Battles"
1. Chapter 1

L-Force: Recruiting

Chapter 1

Kyra banged her head on the wall of her friends' old tree-house.

"Kyra!" Zara snapped, making her friend stop, "Careful! You could break the walls and the whole thing could fall out!"

"Sorry, but I get bored!" Kyra yelled, "Things have been no fun for the past 2 months all because L-Force was disbanded."

"Hey, it was Zadavia's choice," said Nathan, "Ace and Lexi thought that we just weren't living up to our full potential. Maybe they were right."

"Or maybe we weren't able to because of that year that our teams were split up," suggested Zack.

"I'm done talking about this," said Zara, "It's time for us to move on." She left the tree-house and the other 3 followed closely behind.

"Zara," Nathan said, "It's just the 4 of us now! What do you think? You're gonna just step onto the sidewalk; bump heads with some new friends, making you fall to the ground; and they say that they have powers and want to join the team so that we can un-disband?" _BOOM!_ 2/3 of that exact thing happened. "I spoke too soon."

Zara got up. "I'm sorry."

The girl she'd bumped into got up. "It's cool." She looked at them to reveal her appearance: reddish-brown hair, deep blue eyes, and light-colored skin. "Hey, you're that…L-Force that was helping out the Loonatics 2 months ago!"

"Yeah, that's us," said Kyra, "I don't suppose you have powers and wanna join the team so that we can un-disband?"

"Yeah, me and my 5 friends."

"Wow, you're good, Nathan."

The girl called forth her friends from down the street. "I'm Sandra." 2 girls and 3 boys came up. "This is Lindy, Arra, Byron, Darryl, and Jake."

"Hey, Arra rhymes with Zara!" Zack pointed out.

"I know, right?" said Arra. She had fire red hair, light blue eyes, and pretty much the same skin color as Sandra.

"So what can you guys do?" asked Kyra out of curiosity.

Sandra closed her eyes and the clouds blocking the sun disappeared to reveal a blinding source of light called the sun (but since the planet had been thrown off its axis, it wasn't as bright). "Weather manipulation. And I can sense stuff." She took out a dagger and went over to Kyra. "Throw this at Lindy," she whispered.

"What?"

"Just trust me on this. And don't let her see you!"

Kyra took the dagger, hid it behind her back, and then, when she was sure Lindy wasn't looking, threw the dagger at her.

Lindy, fast as a lightning bolt, whirled around and pounded the dagger so that it went flying in a completely different direction and enlodged itself in a post of a nearby picket fence. "Oops." She went over to the picket fence, pulled the post out of the ground, carefully removed the dagger, and then put the post back in its place. "Reflexes. Comes with some minor super strength, too. And I have an enhanced memory, so I hardly ever forget things."

"You said 'hardly'," Nathan pointed out, "It still happens."

"But not often. Like once a year."

"Oh."

"Which helps with my power," Arra said, "I can scan other people's memories and possess the person."

"Talk about mind control," Zara said, stepping back.

"Oh no, I can just control what they say and do while my astral, or spiritual, form is inside them," Arra explained, "I can't completely manipulate their brain patterns. They would revert back to their normal self after I leave, but with no memory of what they did while I was in there. And there's kind of a 24-hour time limit."

Byron scoffed. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and slightly darker skin than Sandra. "Big deal. I can walk up and down walls. And duplicate."

"Great, double the idiot," Arra snapped back. Lindy had to struggle not to laugh at that.

Darryl was a brunette with green eyes and the same color skin as Byron.

Oh, and I forgot to describe Lindy. She was dirty blonde with light green eyes that were slightly tinted blue and her skin was just a few shades tanner than Sandra or Arra.

Anyway, Darryl stepped in front of Byron as if to say "My powers are better! Na na na na na na!" "I can resist any attack and manipulate time!"

Jake had dark hair and light eyes…and he was a wolf. "Last but not least, drum-roll, please…" He shrunk. He was just the size of an ant. He waved at them and then turned back to normal. "I'm a shrink, but I'm not a psychiatrist. And I have atomic manipulation."

"What's that?" Kyra asked.

Jake held out his hand and a nearby mailbox changed color and changed in size. He was scrambling the atoms. Finally, he turned it back to normal.

"Oh, that's what it is," Kyra said.

"And to top it all off," said Arra, "Lindy, Byron, Darryl, and I are all Witches and Warlocks."

Kyra considered the idea. "You know, I think we've got an idea here."

* * *

Lexi bumped into a wall. Well, not so much "bumped" as "was slammed". She looked at the Vampire who'd attacked her and brain-blasted it.

"Looks like the Fang Gang's been at it again," Duck said.

"And it's come back to bite us," Ace said, making a pun. He zapped the thing with his laser vision, but it ducked.

The Vampire then picked up some boxes and threw them at the team, knocking Tech and Rev into the wall and pinning them there. It then proceeded to dodge Duck's fire eggs and kick him Slam the stomach, knocking him into Ace and Duck and pinning them to the wall. It then grabbed Lexi.

Ace pushed his way out from behind Slam. "Lex!"

The Vampire leaned in for the bite...and let go, throwing himself into the boxes.

"Huh?" Tech pondered this strange behavior.

Suddenly, Arra came out of the Vampire. "Ha!"

The door burst open to reveal Lindy on the other side after she'd kicked it down. "Nice job, Are."

Arra flared her skirt. But the Vampire came up behind her and kicked her in the back, knocking her down.

Before the Vampire could attack again, though, a herd of deer ran at him and trampled him, completely avoiding Arra and revealing Kyra not far away.

"KYRA?" the Loonatics cried.

"And us!" Nathan said, coming up behind her with the twins.

Lexi went over to them. "What're you guys doing here?"

"Eh, and who's your new friends?" Ace asked.

"Introductions later, saving your lives now," said Zara, going over to him and pulling Slam off before healing them both, "Where's Duck?"

"Back here." Ace got off the wall, fully healed, to reveal Duck stuck to the wall behind him.

Zara healed him and helped him out of the wall, healing him as she did so. "Are you OK?"

"Just peachy."

"Uh, guys?" Sandra said as more Vampires came for them, "It looks like Bitey Boy brought buddies. Huh. Try saying that 5 times fast."

"Don't start it, Rev," Zack quickly added.

"We got this," Jake said. He went over there (flipping just to look cool) and kicked one of the Vampires. He atomized one of the boxes and made it disappear and reappear above one of the Vampires (kind of like Duck's power did with Duck), crushing it and staking it.

Lindy shrugged and kicked one of the boxes, smashing it into planks that they could use as stakes. She picked up one and threw it at a Vamp, hitting it directly in the heart and dusting it.

Darryl started to go for a Vampire, but it bit him...and did nothing. He looked at it, gloatingly, and staked it. He massaged his neck and the bite marks disappeared because he'd resisted the attack.

Sandra closed her eyes and focused. When she sensed a Vampire coming for her, she quickly grabbed a stake and whirled around, dusting it.

Byron took the last attack by duplicating, making each duplicate take a stake, and staking each one of the last Vampires before returning to normal, dropping all the stakes on the floor.

"Wow," said Lexi, "I see a long introduction _is_ needed."

"And, furthermore," Tech said, looking at Kyra, Nathan, and the twins, "I think L-Force is coming back."

Kyra and Zara looked at each other, squealed, and hugged excitedly, jumping up and down.

* * *

Across town, in an abandoned warehouse, Wake's eyes were closed as she pinpointed who could be her next victim. She didn't find a victim, though. She found L-Force reuniting. She stood up as she took note of the events occurring and went over to the wall. When she got there, she opened her eyes and punched a hole in the wall.

Meanwhile, the Dark Side was on one of their raids. They had come to a group of teenagers and attacked them. Deirdre pierced on girl with a dagger. Loraine, Astrid, Meredith, and Josephine all bit their victims. Roscoe "porcupine'd" and pierced his victim.

Deirdre stood up, holding the dagger in her hand. Then she heard a clapping behind her and turned to see a young man behind her. "Who are you?"

The guy stopped clapping and sighed. "Well, that one sure went well. Good teamwork."

"What do you want?"

"Oh, sorry." The guy walked over to her. "Name's Jeff. I wanted to join up. I even know a few people who might be willing to help 'ye old Dark Side' as well."

Deirdre half-smiled and scoffed. "Alright then, show me what you got."

Jeff scoffed. "I already did." He waved his hand and the dead teenagers disappeared.

"Illusion?" Astrid scoffed.

"Creation and de-creation," Jeff corrected, "It's like a mix of illusion and imagination."

"And what about your friends?" Cassandra asked.

Jeff smiled. "You'll see."

Wake saw all this going on. She half-smiled. "Tie." She went back to the center of the room and laid down. She looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. In her left eye, she saw the Loonatics and the newly reunited L-Force. In her right eye, she saw the Dark Side as Jeff walked away. She smiled and opened her eyes to see that the ceiling had turned into a stained-glass version of her illusion. She pointed to the left. "Duck..." She pointed to the right. "...duck..." She picked up a rock and threw it at the left side, smashing the Loonatics and L-Force and banishing the illusion. She smiled. "...goose."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kyra was pacing in the living room of the tower the next day, "training" the 6 "new recruits". "And another thing, something's always going on around here so there's no such thing as 'a moment of peace'." She then noticed that Arra was writing everything down. "Are, you don't have to take notes on this."

"Oh, got it." Arra started writing one last thing down. "Don't…have to…take notes on this…" She put up her pad.

[Kyra looks at camera.]

"She was always such a keener," Darryl explained.

Kyra rolled her eyes, half-smiling. "OK, now about the Dark Side…"

"Oh!" Nathan spoke up, "Can I get them up to speed?" Kyra gestured to go ahead and he walked over there. "We know nothing. You are now up to speed."

"Nathan!" Kyra scolded.

"Well, it's true! All we know is that Deirdre and Cassandra are collecting souls for some ritual and have 4 Vampires on their side. That's it! We don't know who sired the Vamps, what the Vamps' powers are, what Deirdre and Cassandra are planning on doing, or even if it's more than the 6 of them. Who knows what they could be doing right now?"

I'll tell you what they were doing right then: meeting their new recruits…

* * *

Cassandra was tapping her foot impatiently as Deirdre paced.

Josephine, her head in her hand and her elbow resting on her knee, slowly turned her head to look at Cassandra. "Dude!"

Cassandra stopped tapping her foot. "Sorry."

There was then a pounding on the door to the warehouse.

Deirdre went over and opened the door to let in Jeff and another guy and a girl. "OK, wanted: long introduction. Reward: joining the Dark Side." She closed the door. "Yo, Big Bow, you first."

The girl glared at her, her hands on her hips. The girl had on a lavender-pink frilled dress that reached just below her knees, pink glitter flip-flops, a dark purple velvet belt tied in a huge bow, and a rainbow headband with a sunset bow tied to it. The girl fluffed her dark brown hair, took off her headband, and blinked so that her big, bright, chocolate brown eyes started flickering in a dozen different colors.

Deirdre grabbed her wrist. She looked at her palm to see a message burning itself into her skin: "Right back at you." Deirdre looked at the girl.

The girl flared the skirt of her dress and the message disappeared. "Got 3 names for it: engraving, messaging…burning." Deirdre just looked at her. "Nice way to send the enemy a message. Name's Priscilla."

"Hmm…fiery, painful, strikes fear into their hearts. You're in." Deirdre looked at the other boy. "And you?"

The dark-haired boy took off his sunglasses to reveal that his eyes were entirely black. They glowed eerily and Cassandra was tugged out of her chair by an invisible force, falling to the floor.

Cassandra got up. "Why am I always the punching bag?"

The boy smiled and his eyes faded to entirely golden-white. "I'm Axel. And the tug-o'-war at full-blast could've snapped your neck."

Cassandra grabbed her neck.

"That's it, you're in," Deirdre said without hesitation.

"So what's our current plan…er, insidious plot?" asked Priscilla.

Deirdre smiled. "Allow me to get you up to speed: the Loonatics had a side team called L-Force and their most powerful member is cursed to turn evil whenever he experiences pain. So all we need to do now is get him all fired up until he stays that way."

"And how do you intend we do that?" asked Axel, putting his sunglasses back on.

"I've got a plan," she said with an English accent. Then she spoke normally: "But first thing first, I'll be right back." She ran off to the back room.

Jeff, Priscilla, and Axel looked at the rest of the Dark Side.

"Secret room," Roscoe explained, "We're not allowed back there."

"No, but we are," Meredith gloated, "Excuse us." With that, she pulled Loraine, Astrid, and Josephine into the back room.

Deirdre walked into the room to see Wake lying on the floor with her eyes closed again. "Alright, mistress," said Deirdre as the 4 Vampires came in, "Guess what?"

"We have 3 new members."

"You're a good guesser."

"I'm watching." Wake opened her eyes and sat up on the floor. "I also know that 'L-Force' is back with 6 new members."

"Heh?"

"Whoa, we are falling _behind_," Astrid said.

"Final count: 10 to 16," Loraine said.

"Not after we've got our hands on the death-bringer," Deirdre corrected, "And that time will come soon. I've-"

"We know!" Josephine interrupted, "You got a plan! What we're not clear on is what the plan is."

"You just wait and see…" Deirdre said eerily. She went back into the main room.

Astrid whistled. "Wow. She is gonna get us all dusted." _BONK!_ She fell over.

Wake smiled and called the rock back. "I've wanted to do that for weeks. You know, I'm starting to think this thing is lucky."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The _next_ day, Sandra was walking around the tower. Suddenly, she bumped into Byron. "Sorry."

"That's OK."

"I-I wasn't looking where I was going."

"No, seriously, it's OK."

Sandra half-smiled. "OK." She started to walk away. _Why can't I talk to him?_

Byron did, too. _What does it take?_

_Dark Side…_

Meredith heard a frantic knocking on the door as the team was preparing to launch their big plan. She sighed and waved her hand. Some vines broke through the ground and crept up to the door and pried it open. There was a girl and 2 boys on the other side. The plants grabbed the girl by the waist and pulled her over to Meredith. "What do you want?"

"Relax, we're on your side," said the redhead, her brown eyes' pupils turning red. When her pupils had lost all black, the plants let go of her and whacked Meredith back. She grabbed one of the plants and started petting it. "Nice plants. Too bad my power manipulates nature."

"So what's the name, Mother Nature?" asked Loraine, "And what's up with your guys?"

"Name's Scarlet," said the girl. She pointed to the brown-haired boy. "This is Dominic…" She pointed to the blonde boy. "…and Brody."

"And you do…what exactly?"

Dominic swiped his hand at the air in front of him.

Loraine grabbed her wrist as 5 scratch marks appeared on the cold flesh of her forearm and started to bleed.

"I like to call it 'the Dominic effect'," Brody punned. He started laughing. Scarlet and Dominic looked at him. He noticed them and stopped laughing. "Anyway…" He sighed and turned back to the Dark Side. "My power: Horcrux."

"Gesundheit," said Roscoe.

"No, no, no," Brody corrected, "It means putting mine and others' souls into an object or objects so that if I or that person dies, I or they could come back as long as that object is still intact."

Deirdre came up to them. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, you're in, making us 13. But right now, I'm a little more interested in putting our little plan into action. Jeff, be getting them up to speed. The rest of you, let's get going."

_Loonatics/L-Force…_

Lindy and Darryl were sitting on a couch together, laughing their heads off.

"And then…and then…" Darryl tried to get out, "She said 'Mom, have you seen my chameleon?'"

Lindy tilted her head back, grasping her side from laughing so hard. _He's great._

_She's adorable._

Kyra smiled upon entering the room. "Look at those 2 bonding." She walked over to the table where Arra and Jake were sitting (at opposite sides, I might point out).

_Dark Side…_

Deirdre led Cassandra, Loraine, Astrid, Meredith, Josephine, Roscoe, Priscilla, and Axel out of the warehouse and into the street. "OK. Lori, get going. Find your victim, sire 'em, make sure they rise ASAP. If that doesn't work, plan falls through."

"Got it." Loraine ran off.

Deirdre turned to Priscilla, Axel, and Roscoe. "Prissy, Ax, Ross, get to the docks pronto."

"No problem," Roscoe said. He wolfed out and pulled Priscilla and Axel off for the docks.

Deirdre turned to Cassandra, Astrid, Meredith, and Josephine. "You girls with me. We gotta do this now."

"Let's get to that tower while the sun is down," said Meredith.

_Loonatics/L-Force…_

As Sandra came into the room, Kyra looked at Arra. "Hey, Are. How's it going?"

Arra just looked at Jake.

Kyra slammed her fist on the table. "Arra!"

Arra looked at her. "Huh?"

"Do you like Jake?" Kyra asked.

Sandra, who'd sat down at the table and been looking out the window since, smiled to herself. But her smile disappeared when she started sensing something…

_Loraine, in Vamp form, biting and turning a guy…_

"What?" Arra said. She scoffed several times. "Kyra! That's—OK, maybe a little."

_Axel using his power and tearing down the door to Zadavia's underwater chambers…_

"No need to deny it," said Kyra, "Look at Lindy and Darryl over there." The 2 of them were still laughing hysterically.

_Axel tugging Zadavia to the videophone…_

"And I think Sandra's got it in for Byron."

_Priscilla holding out her hand and Zadavia screaming…_

Kyra looked at Sandra. "Right, Sand?" Sandra was too busy panting from reaction to her senses. Kyra's smile faded. "Sandra?"

_Deirdre, Astrid, Meredith, and Josephine opening a box and starting to—_

Before Sandra could pull through the whole sensation, it hit her hard and her head snapped back, forcing her out of her seat and onto the floor.

"Sandra!" Arra cried. She ran over there and helped Sandra stand up as the rest of the team heard Zadavia's ring and came in. "Are you OK? What happened?"

"Something's…something's going on," said Sandra.

"I'll say," said Ace. He picked up Zadavia's call. "What's up, Zadavia?"

"A Vampire nest has been located downtown. You need to get there fast and slay them before the situation escalates. Zadavia out." She hung up.

Sandra snapped her head back again as one last image came to her:

_Zadavia getting pierced by Roscoe's needles and falling to the ground, dead…_

Sandra panted heavily. "I better not be sensing the present right now."

"Well, do you think that your strong enough in the present to go out into the field?" Kyra asked, "'Cause if there's a whole nest, we may need you."

"OK, OK. I'm fine. The aftershock will go off in a few seconds. Let's just get going."

The group left for downtown and arrived at the address Zadavia had sent them after hanging up. They walked into the building where the nest was.

"Yoo-hoo, Bitey Boys!" Lexi called. A Vampire jumped her. "There you are." She kicked him.

Ace zapped the guy with his laser vision.

Lindy kicked the Vampire in the chest and knocked him into a slab of wood, piercing him in the heart and dusting him. "Alright, bring on the rest of them!" She looked around, excitedly, but stopped. "Really? That was it?"

"I thought Zadavia said there was a whole nest," said Tech.

"That's 'cause she did," said Nathan.

"Something's going on," said Jake.

"Thanks for agreeing with me," said Sandra, "I think my senses were…" She groaned and he grabbed her. She was still a little weak from the sudden attack. Her senses were only this powerful in a dire situation. So what was going on or about to happen?

Zack started looking around.

Sandra closed her eyes.

_Priscilla waved her hand as she and Axel and Roscoe walked away from the docks…_

Sandra's eyes popped open.

Zack noticed the floor beneath his feet starting to burn. He pulled his foot back and looked at the message engraving itself on the floor:

_If you stay here, they'll die._

Zack almost gasped. He looked back at the others. Were his powers about to erupt like they'd done with Deirdre's brother? "I have to go back to the tower." He ran out.

Zara looked back at him. "Zack-" Before she could say anything to stop him, he was gone.

Deirdre came out of the tower to meet Astrid, Josephine, and Meredith. "Too bad you can't enter without an invitation, but it's a good thing Mare's plants could rip the windows up. Now let's get going before the Loonies get back."

As soon as they were gone, Zack came back and ran in. He fell on the couch in the foyer of the tower and started thinking. _Were my powers about to erupt again? There's no way I could risk my friends lives, especially not Zara. I'll never let anything happen to them. _But, still, he got a weird feeling that something was wrong. He got up from the couch and went up to his room in the center of the tower. He started thinking again. _Maybe this job isn't even worth it. Maybe I'm risking their lives everyday and don't even know it…_ But there was that feeling again, that feeling that something was wrong. He sighed and left the room, going up to the living room at the very top of the tower. He looked out the window and at the buzzing city and smiled. _It's definitely worth it. Sure we're risking our own lives, but we're always protecting each other. We can handle ourselves. And it's worth it because our lives are protecting the thousands of other lives that—Man, what's wrong here?_ He looked around. Something wasn't right but he just couldn't figure out what. Maybe he just needed to eat something. He went over to the kitchen. Zack opened a cabinet. There was the answer to his feeling. He backed away.

The rest of the team came back to the street and started making their way back to HQ.

"So, let me get this straight," said Lexi, "You think Zadavia gave us the wrong address?" Tech nodded. "By accident, right?"

"There's no telling," said Tech.

"Unless-Deirdre-and-Cassandra-and-co.-somehow-intercepted-our-communications," Rev suggested, "I-mean-Cassandra-could've-easily-impersonated-Zadavia."

"That's not possible," said Tech, "To have masqueraded to that extent would've meant breaking my encryption on the videophones to keep out unwanted calls and no one could've broken my encryption!"

"Maybe they have some new buddies on their team," suggested Kyra, "I mean, we do. They'd just be evening out the playing field. This just proves my theory that there never is such thing as a moment of peace."

"Come on, Kyra," said Zara, "Sometimes you're wrong. Maybe just this once, _we_ at least get some time off."

Suddenly, the tower exploded. The team was knocked to the ground by the force of the explosion, unable to do anything to stop it.

"Then again," Zara said, getting up from the ground, weakly, "that never is the case with us."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lindy kicked down the door to HQ. Rev ran in and looked around for Zack. He finally came to the stairs—which were now pretty much just flaming rubble—and found that Zack had fallen down the stairs due to the explosion. He grabbed Zack and ran out.

* * *

The team was gathered in a waiting room at the hospital.

Zara was sitting on one of the chairs with her head on one armrest and her feet hanging over the other.

Kyra hugged Zara from behind (she was sitting next to her). "I'm sure he's OK."

Zara half-smiled. "I know. Do we know what caused this?"

Tech finished examining a piece of the rubble and threw it into the nearest trash can. "I can tell you this: it wasn't something Zack did. It was a bomb. 3, actually. One in the lobby, one in the center of the building, and one in the kitchen. Someone planned this." Everyone looked at him, grimly.

"And I have a sneaking suspicion that I know just who," said Sandra, "My senses' dire situation was this. Loraine, their main Vamp, turned that guy so that we'd have something to fight, a distraction; Deirdre, Cassandra, and their other 3 Vamps planted all 3 bombs while we were fighting him; and 3 of their newest recruits—they have been recruiting, like us—broke into Zadavia's lair, forced her to send that message…and killed her when they were done."

Lexi was tearing up. "What?"

Zara stood up. "There's no way you're right."

"My senses have never been wrong before," said Sandra, "I may not be psychic, but I'm not stupid. I was definitely right."

"You have no proof," Zara said, "We can go by Zadavia's lair and check your _theory_, but right now-" She cut herself off when she saw the doctor coming down the hall. She ran out of the waiting room and over to him. "How is he?"

"Good news, bad news situation," said the doctor, "The good news is he's not dead just yet."

Zara sighed with relief. "Oh, that's great! Thank you!"

Suddenly, Duck appeared next to her. "Wait! What's the bad news?"

The doctor sighed, looking at his feet. "He's in a coma."

Zara's smile faded.

"And he might not wake up."

Zara almost started crying. She was really losing him. She couldn't let that happen.

* * *

"Oh, that was great!" Loraine sighed, plopping onto a bean bag chair in the main room of the Dark Side's building.

"What a rush!" Astrid squealed.

"I actually killed somebody!" Roscoe said.

"Doesn't anyone here feel even a hint of remorse about what we did today?" asked Cassandra.

Everyone else looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"Cass, honey," said Deirdre, "We're evil. This is what we do. We chose this path and we're staying on it. No matter what happens, we stick together to…ultimately destroy/rule the world!"

Cassandra nodded. There was only one thing wrong with her processing that soliloquy: she hadn't chosen this path. She'd been forced onto it by Deirdre's brother and the pain from everyone else's constant mocking and fright of being around her.

* * *

Ace burst into Zadavia's underwater lair, followed by Lexi, Tech, Kyra…and everyone else. He looked around. "This place is a mess!"

Lexi started looking around. "More than a mess. It…" She noticed something and gasped. "…it's…"

"What is it, Lex?" Ace asked.

Lexi couldn't say anything.

Everyone followed her gaze to see Zadavia's dead body lying on the floor, covered in poisoned marks from when Roscoe had pierced her.

Tech went over there and examined the body, his ears drooping. "She's really dead. Deirdre and co. really did plan this."

"So what exactly killed her?" Kyra asked, tearfully. She hadn't personally known Zadavia like the Loonatics did, nor did any other members of L-Force, but death was always painful for the people who knew they were supposed to be stopping this kind of thing before it happened. And this time, the life they couldn't save had been among their own ranks, another good mutant. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Tech gently laid down Zadavia's body and stood up. "I would have to do an autopsy to get a real answer to your question, but I personally think right now that-"

"Hold it," Nathan said, looking around, "Where's Zara?"

* * *

Zara stormed down the street. She snapped her fingers and a stake appeared in her hand.

* * *

_Somebody wants revenge, somebody attacked her friend, she wants her brother back, so she's gonna attack the people that attacked her friend_ Ha! Note my Hannah Montana reference there. Anyway, keep reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Loraine, Meredith, Astrid, and Josephine were walking down a street, hunting.

"What a day…er, night!" Astrid said.

"Tell me about it," said Josephine, "I can only imagine what the Loonies are doing in reaction." Suddenly, as if in answer, she was zapped forward, landing face-first on the pavement. She whirled around to see Zara in a battle stance, grasping her stake so hard that her knuckles were white. "Well then…" She got up.

Meredith scoffed. "Ooh, scary. Wish-granter's got a stake." She waved her hand. "But we're the stronger here."

Before Meredith's winds could paralyze her, Zara snapped her fingers and the winds blew around her and knocked Loraine into a tree, a branch piercing her chest just inches away from her heart. She fell onto the ground from the Anger-Winds' effect.

Meredith released the spell. She ran at Zara and jumped her.

Zara held out her stake, but Meredith batted it away. Zara smacked her off and rolled over to grab her stake back.

Loraine jumped up from the ground and jumped at Zara.

Zara kicked Loraine. "That's for my dad." She punched Astrid. "That's for my brother." She looked at Josephine. "And this one's for me." She moved to stake her, but Astrid waved her hand and another Vampire appeared and smacked her away. Astrid was worn out, but she was smiling menacingly.

* * *

The team loaded onto the docks.

"Do you really think Zara went for them?" asked Lindy.

Sandra closed her eyes and concentrated. "I can just barely pick it up. My senses aren't as strong when they're voluntary. But I think Zara is out to get the Dark Side." She opened her eyes. "Apparently, that's what they're calling themselves."

"Can you feel out where she is?" Duck asked.

"I think she's somewhere a couple streets down from the park…"

That's all he needed to hear. Duck immediately quacked off. If Zara didn't make it, her mutant-extended "bond" with Zack would make sure he didn't wake up from his coma. Plus, he seemed to have feelings for her and he wouldn't let anything hurt her.

"Rev, find our 2 orphan love-birds," Ace said.

Rev's eyes glowed red. "Duck's-just-a-street-away-from-Zara-let's-go!" With that, the group ran off. Rev suddenly bumped into Duck. "Sorry!"

"You guys found Zara?" Duck asked, rubbing his head where Rev had hit it.

"Not yet!" said Kyra, running off.

* * *

Zara kicked Loraine again.

"You know," said Meredith, getting up from the ground, "I heard that when Deirdre killed your dad, he wouldn't stop screaming." Zara turned to her, glaring at her angrily, the fire of rage visible in her eyes. "And your little brother wanted to kill hers in return. He belongs with us."

Zara threw the stake at her.

Meredith grabbed the stake in midair before it could come anywhere near her heart. "Nice shot." She snapped the stake in half.

Loraine knocked Zara to the ground, Vamping out and pinning her down. "My turn." She leaned in for the bite…

Kyra came up and grabbed her before she could bite her. "No, mine." She summoned an elephant to trample her.

Loraine knocked Kyra away, making her land on a building and un-summon the elephant before it could make contact. "Next time, work faster."

"Speaking-of-faster…" Rev ran up, kicking her back.

Loraine turned back to her human guise and jumped at him, but he raced out of the way just in time.

Kyra looked around. Duck quacked up to Zara and pulled her out of the way of the fight. Then again, the fight wasn't that big now that Meredith, Astrid, and Josephine were all gone. Kyra then remembered Loraine's power (by flashing back to when Loraine had used it on a shadow demon possessing someone) and saw that the Vamp girl was getting ready to sing now that the whole team was there. "Fall out, now!" She raced off and the rest of the team followed before Loraine could make her move.

Loraine half-smiled. "One of these days, Loonies…one of these days." She walked away.

"Well, that was a close one," Lexi said when they were down the street, gasping for breath after the long run.

"At least no one got hurt," said Nathan. Just then Kyra punched Zara. "I take it back."

"What were you thinking?" Kyra practically yelled at Zara, "Going against 4 Vampires by yourself? You could've been killed!"

Zara scissor-locked Kyra's legs, knocking her to the ground next to her. "Did you think I was just gonna let them get away with what they did? They killed my dad and Zadavia and almost killed Zack! What was I supposed to do?"

"Wait!" Kyra answered, "We're not strong enough for them right now. We have to take them together."

"When? When Zack's dead and the world's about to end because of this ritual they're planning on doing? Face it, Kyra, we'll never be strong enough until one is taking the other one-by-one." She left.

"She's right, isn't she?" Kyra asked when Zara was gone.

Nathan helped her up. "Pretty much."

"I'm sure we can do it, Nat."

"Yeah, _you're_ sure. You're in charge here. You're _forced_ to believe in us. Zara just lost the last thing she ever cared about. There's no hope for her anymore."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6/Epilogue

Wake was pacing in her room.

Deirdre walked into the room through the door behind her.

"How did you know you wouldn't kill the death-bringer?" asked Wake, without turning around.

Deirdre didn't have to bother with contemplating how Wake knew it was her. She just answered the question: "It was just 3 fire bombs. Couldn't possibly kill a mutant. Or a Witch or Warlock, for that matter. Just a mortal or a Vampire."

Wake half-smiled. "Our numbers are increasing. The 'good guys' now rest at 15 and we are about to reach the same number."

Deirdre started counting the teams out on her fingers to make sure Wake was right. It was getting a little hard to keep track of this. Then she stopped. "How can we be sure when the death-bringer will wake up or when that will happen or how long he'll stay on our side?"

Wake's half-smile widened to a full one as she whirled around to face Deirdre and stopped pacing. "I know everything. I'm watching them and us. Right now, they're too weak to take us. Soon, this world will be ours to rule or destroy…and 'the Loonies'—as our Vampire girls so quaintly call them—will be powerless against us." She cackled fiercely.

* * *

Zack lay in one of the hospital beds, not moving, asleep and unable to voluntarily wake up.

Zara looked in from the hall and then left. She couldn't handle this. She was losing her twin brother because of this battle. Suddenly, she stopped just outside the hospital. "I know you're there. You don't have to spy on me."

Kyra came out from behind a tree.

Zara looked at her. "Do I wanna hear it?"

"Depends on if you wanna hear an apology."

"Go on."

Kyra half-smiled. "I'm sorry. You were…half-right."

"'Half'?"

"Well…we aren't strong enough for them and we probably never will be, but we're doing this for a reason because we have something worth fighting for. They are doing it for the sake of it: they're playing with our emotions, trying to come at us through what's important to us. And it's working. That's why we're losing."

"Kyra's right!" Nathan said, coming out from behind the tree.

Kyra glared at him. "Couldn't you have waited till I was done?"

"Sorry."

"I knew it wasn't just you," Zara said, "Right, guys?"

"Right! D'OH!"

"Duck…" Zara started, turning to see him and the others behind the other trees.

"Surprise?" Duck said.

Zara half-smiled.

Kyra went over to her. "Ignore them." Zara turned to face her. "We'll get through this."

"How? Kyra, he was the only family I had left!"

"Now, that's not true…" Kyra smiled. "You've got us."

Zara smiled back. Kyra was right. She couldn't be more right. Zara looked around at the others. They were the ones she needed and the ones who needed her back, the ones who were still pulling through for her after everything they'd been through. They were her real friends. No, not her friends…her family. Her real family. She hugged Kyra.

"Hey, what about us?" Nathan demanded, "We're still part of this 'family'!"

"Oh, come here!" Zara said, pulling him into the hug.

"Not what I meant," Nathan said, trying to pull himself away from the girls.

"Oh! Me next!" Arra ran over there and hugged Zara.

Zara looked at her. "We're not that close yet." Arra slowly let go. "I didn't say that mattered." Arra smiled and re-hugged. "Are you guys coming in here, too, or aren't you?" Lexi, Lindy, and Sandra immediately went over there.

"Uh, we're good!" said Darryl. Lindy grabbed him and pulled him, forcing in the other guys.

"And to think 2 months ago when I asked you for a group hug, you said 'no,'" Zara told Kyra, who laughed in return at the irony and of that true statement. _Oh, well. We'll always have each other no matter what happens._

* * *

Wake watched all these events going on from her room. "Not for long, wish-granter. I'm about to come out. These souls are nourishing me. 700 more and I'll be at full strength, a being that no 'hero' or 'champion' or even, yes, 'family' could face. You have no idea what's coming…" She laughed again, for that was also true…

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

Sorry this one was so short. I promise the rest of the season will be longer. Anyway, I'm currently working on the next story and even though this was originally supposed to be a 10-story series, there will be 4 more seasons and a spin-off. For some reason, my happy endings/to be continued's keep resulting in sequels. Anyway, there's more to come so keep reading! L8r!


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